Happy Birthday to you?

I woke up one night last week, thinking ‘it will be his birthday any day now! And, oh, he’ll be 70 this year…’

But which date, other than early August? Luckily these things can be Googled in Sweden, even when you’re not famous. I found out his middle names, too.

We are half-siblings, and I first met him at his 50th birthday party. ‘So you do know which date then,’ I hear you say. No, because the party was at a weekend, not on the actual day. ‘I’ll pick you up at the station,’ he said. ‘I’ll wear a red shirt.’

It’s an odd situation. His name is one I’d happily have picked for him as a child, had I been able to. He’s a lovely man, and I’m glad I’ve got an older brother, even if I did have to wait quite a few years. Circumstances mean we don’t meet often. It’s been a few big birthdays, and when we’ve been driving ‘past.’

On more recent occasions we have opted to shop, or merely browse, at the Scottish Antique & Arts Centre outside Doune, and then got in the car to have tea somewhere else. But then, it can be nice to sit … Continue reading →